By Leigh San Diego
PressOne.PH
UPDATE: As of April 16, 2025, PressOne.PH has identified a total of 223 accounts and 3,458 tweets.
Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has permanently suspended 24 out of 25 Chinese-named accounts that were previously identified in an investigative report by PressOne.PH as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign targeting President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
As of January 2025, nearly all of the Chinese-named X accounts were suspended for violating the platform’s guidelines, which include policies on safety, privacy, authenticity, and third-party advertising in video content.
Previously, PressOnePH reported that these accounts were temporarily restricted in November 2024 after X detected suspicious and unusual activity linked to them.
Late last year, PressOnePH identified two additional Chinese-named X accounts, each with only two posts shared in October 2024. These posts were Marcos Jr.’s previously debunked “polvoron” video and the Reuters investigation on the alleged US Pentagon smear campaign against the Sinovac vaccine.
These Chinese-named accounts, which were created in September 2024, shared identical posts on Nov. 11, including the resurfacing of the debunked “polvoron” video, which was posted just days after Marcos Jr. signed the landmark laws reinforcing the Philippines’ rights over the West Philippine Sea.
This disinformation network also shared several articles from Chinese media outlets that condemned the role of the US in supporting the maritime operations of the Philippines.
These suspended accounts also posted reports from Rappler and Philstar, which discussed the ongoing political developments between Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, highlighting Duterte’s criticism of Marcos Jr.
As of writing, PressOne.PH has identified nearly a hundred accounts engaged in a coordinated disinformation campaign. -PressOne.PH
This report was made possible by an Internews project to build the capacity of news organizations in understanding disinformation and influence operations in the Philippines.
